December 18, 2010

I realize it seems like I have been off the grid, but actually I’ve been working on my program.  I just haven’t had any time to blog due to responsibilities at work.  More on that later, but first I wanted to give a quick update on my progress and also talk about the first class back with the Shaanxi Wushu Team last Saturday.

After the last 40YO update I came down with 2 bad sicknesses in a row.  The first was a stomach flu and the second was a cold.  Thankfully they didn’t hit at the same time, but sequential illness is still annoying.

After I recovered I recommitted myself to getting back in shape for wushu.  Ruhi and I joined a gym near our home and 3 times a week we go there for strength training, alternating between upper and lower body each time.  Its been a month and we’re both feeling much stronger.  I’m especially proud of how Ruhi’s doing since lifting weights is a new experience for her.

xiao yu playing ping pong in the sanda guan

This past Saturday I returned to wushu training with the Shaanxi Wushu Team.  Thanks to the strength training my muscles were better equipped to handle the workout, but that isn’t to say it was a piece of cake.   After warmups we didn’t actually do basics, although I did a few on my own just to make sure I could.  Instead we worked on combos, back and forth across the carpet about 12 times.  I chose to work on nangun basics, since I knew that my upper body strength needed development if I was going to make improvement on my overall wushu technique.

After combos we switched to sections and I switched to nanquan.  I don’t really have a nangun form in my pocket (especially not after 9 months without wushu training) so I worked on the first and fourth sections of nanquan.  I went through sections about 5 times before I felt a twinge of pain in my left knee and excused myself from the rest of the practice.  Instead I went to the side to practice some taiji basics and work on stretching.

A few things to note during training:

Wu Ya Nan was there and we chatted for a bit.  He said he has just gotten back from Guangzhou and participating in the Asian Games.  I asked him how he did and he answered “first place”, but with a semi-embarrassed look and sheepish grin.   Well, he went from being Chinese Taiji Champion to Asian Games Taiji Champion.  Not too bad.

Athletes huddling

The two new faces from last time were there too — a young girl from Henan province named Fan Xiang Fei and the older girl from Shanghai Sports University.  I haven’t learned her name yet, but both of them are learning nanquan!  So, that is pretty neat.

Zhang Yang has switched from Qiang  / Jian  to Gun / Dao.  Naturally the transition was a relatively easy one and she’s kicking butt with those weapons as well.

Yuan Min is not around.  I guess he’s not training anymore — or at least for the time being.  Which is too bad.  But it looks like the Shanghai girl learned his form so at least I get to see his choreography during class, even if he isn’t around.

Coach Zhang in the Sanda Guan

After class I went down to the Sanda room and played some ping pong with Yue Xiao Yu and Coach Zhang.  But after 15 – 20 minutes of hanging out with them it was time to go.  However, since it was my first time in the Sanda training hall (lots of half-naked guys resting after their workout) I took some pictures so you could see what it looks like.

December 25, 2010

On Christmas day I went back to training.  It was a week, but that was because I tweaked my leg and it took a weak for it to recover.  Xiao Yu was surprised to see me training on X-mas day, but I explained to her that I actually don’t celebrate Christmas, which she thought was interesting.

The smell as good as they look

We did some warm ups and basics and then I went on the back carpet to work on my nanquan, but my leg started to act up again.  I was able to do a few sections, but then I had to go on the side and nurse my tui.

I realized after a while (I’m writing this update quite a few months after the fact) that the problem isn’t whether or not I’m strong enough, but that I’m putting too much stress on my body with my weight.  Before really being able to get back in to training I need to drop some pounds.  Otherwise it will just be an invitation to injury, which I certainly don’t want.

I told Xiao Yu that I was going to take a break while I try to get my weight down and she understood.  Of course, that would be the last time I would see her in a while since she ended up retiring and going back to her hometown in Shandong Province to teach wushu.  (If you want to go train with her, let me know.)

I was able to drop some weight though, and by the time I tried training again in the late spring during my trip back to the U.S., I noticed a difference.  Dropping 20 pounds really helps.

Anyway, the class itself was nothing to write about, except that it was quite cold (as you can see from the snow on the ground).  I really hope I can go back and train again soon …

Snow on the ground

Related posts:

1. Returning to Wushu: The 40 Year Old Version – Week 1
2. Returning to Wushu: The 40 Year Old Version – Week 2
3. Wushu Training Vlog

I made my way to her dorm room and hung out with her and Zhang Yang as they finished up their packing.  She was nice enough to give me a copy of the schedule for the competition events so I thought I would share it here with all of you.  One interesting thing is that they moved Changquan to the 3rd day.  Usually they have it on the morning of the first.  Anyway, here it is:

I’ve highlighted the events I definitely want to attend with red.  The ones in blue are ones that I would like to see, but may not get much footage of, either because they are concurrent with a preferred event on another carpet, or because I might not be there.  (Those 8 AM sessions are brutal).

Also, there is a slight chance that I might not get there until Monday afternoon, in which case I would be missing the Monday morning events.  I’ll have a better idea once the weekend is here what my status will be.

Anyway, I hung out with Xiao Yu and Zhang Yang for a bit.  Pretty soon Xiao Yu’s best friend (who’s name I forget) come in the room to help them bring their luggage downstairs.  She’s super nice and also from Shandong, Dong Ming.  A Sanda athlete who is apparently pretty good because she has her picture up as one of the athletes who were “celebrated” upon her return from the All China Games.  Don’t know if she medaled, but she probably got at least top 8 in her division.

She mentioned that she has a Sanda competition coming up in Anhui on April 8, so she will be preparing for that.  If any of you are in Anhui you can be sure to check it out. (She also mentioned that I’ve lost weight, so what she says MAY be subject to interpretation.   )

Wu Ya Nan met us at the bottom of the stairs and then we walked over to the bus.  As we were walking he said “I haven’t seen you in training much lately” and I mentioned that I had been in Hong Kong for a week for work.  But he’s right and I’ve been reflecting lately about my lack of attendance in the wushu guan.  Once I get back from the competition (hopefully rared up and motivated from watching lots of good wushu) I really want to revamp my commitment to my training.  I need to get in the gym more.

After a while the rest of the taolu athletes came and loaded themselves on the bus.  I took video of the whole thing so you don’t need too many details from me here.  Sufficeth to say it was neat to see them get the send-off for competition.  Now I kind of wish I had been able to go with them on the train, but it is good that I have a few days in Xi’an still since I have a lot to do.

Here is the video for you to enjoy!

One good thing about today was that I went running in the morning.  I was meeting James and Adam at their place so I decided to make it a run and hoofed it over.  Here is the map and distance:

So, not a super long distance, just 2.1 km.  But it felt good to get out on the road again.  I walked back as well, so I guess that is another 2.1 km of walking I can add to that.  I’m going to really try to do more running during this week away in Hangzhou / Shanghai.  Actually, I have a commitment with James and Adam that we each will go running every day for 2 weeks, so that is extra motivation for me to do it as well.

Thats all for today.  There is some wushu classes at the Sports Center, but mainly just a few straggling kids.  I think I would rather focus on getting some of my projects finished so that when I come back to wushu after the competition I can really go at it full steam ahead.  Until then … lots of running!!

Related posts:

1. Competition Prep! T-Minus 1 Week

Related posts:

1. No-Shows and Wushu Kids
2. Two Days of Training
3. Foreigners Visit the Shaanxi Wushu Team

The first part of class started off like most others. Warm ups (led by Yuan Ming), stretching and basics. Then it was time for sections. I started with my 4th section and went through it 4 times (I guess today is also brought to you by the number 4) but when it was time for me to start on the 3rd section I realized I didn’t really have it fully figured out yet.

Some of the athletes, like Xiao Yu, were on the other carpet working through their stuff, so I joined them and spent most of the class trying to fix the things that didn’t feel right with my 3rd section. Part of what I was working on was utilizing some of the suggestions that Gao Song had made regarding my movements in Hong Kong. But utilizing that feedback requires me to really retool some of my form.

Actually, most of my form.  He sort of shifted my paradigm a bit so I need to go through each movement and re-evaluate how I do it and whether or not it fits in with my personal style of wushu and nanquan.  A daunting task to be sure.

Anyway, after class I needed to pick up a memory stick that Xiao Yu had borrowed, but since she had left it in her dorm room she said I could go with her to check out what the living conditions are like for the athletes.

Actually, I had a few surprises.  Which I suppose I shouldn’t have had since I’ve seen the dorms before, albeit a different building.  Back in 2008 during the China Nationals in Xi’an, Wu Di and Zhao Qing Jian were living on the same campus while training with the China National Team for a demo in Taiwan.  I got to visit their room then.  In fact, here is a picture from that:

Zhao Qing Jian and Wu Di in Xi'an, 2008

Ma Ling Juan playing cards, Xi'an 2008

Anyway, the dorms are pretty much as I expected them to be.  Think post-industrial concrete meets pre-modern industrial.  A little utilitarian, but still quite livable.  The one thing that I was really impressed with was that each room only housed two athletes (unlike the 6 person rooms back in Beijing or the 4 person rooms in Shanghai) and each room had its own bathroom.  Thats right!  No communal toilets.  Rather nice.

Yue Xiao Yu’s roommate was Zhang Yang, who you might remember from this blog entry.  Xiao Yu is also quite the entrepreneur.  I remember when she came to my house a few weeks back, she mentioned that she would take the bus (1 RMB each way) to the train station to buy candies and various 点心 and then bring them back and sell them in her room.

The store at the school sold them for a little more than she did, so the students would prefer to buy them from her since it was cheaper and she was closer than the store located in the next building over.  She made a small amount of money because her costs were lower than she sold them for.  Not a ton of money (we’re talking a few mao per sale) but it was still pretty industrious of her.

Fast forward to today and I got to see the operation in action.  Actually she stopped doing it, but she still has some stock left over from her last trip to the Train Station so until she sells out she can keep selling them.

One of the little kids (from this blog entry) came in while I was there, clenching a 20RMB note in her hand ready to buy some candies.  It was pretty cute.  One of the Taiji athletes came in as well and bought something to eat.  It was mostly candies, crackers, chips .. that sort of thing.

While we were there I tried to show her my alive.tom.com blog (since it is the only place my photos are viewable in China) but her connection was super slow so it didn’t load up.  In the meantime she showed me her QQ page and the little girl also used her computer to check something.  I got some pictures of them here:

Yue Xiao Yu looking studious

Xiao Yu using her laptop

Little Girl using Xiao Yu's computer

One of the things we talked about was a few questions I had related to having foreigners come and train with the Shaanxi Team. I’ve had one or two requests for specific information related to training here (mainly for people wanting to come during the summer) so I was doing some investigating.

I have to say that, while I enjoy having a professional wushu team all to my self, I realize that this is a pretty nice situation and a decent facility and that some other folks out there might be interested in knowing more about what it would take to come train here too. Especially since planning for your summer China training trips are probably in the works.

The other nice thing about this location is that it is probably the only city in China that has a richer history than Beijing (or at least pretty darn close), and some of the greatest tourist sites in the country. Add that to the fact that it is sooo much cheaper than training at Shi Cha Hai (but also keeping in mind that it isn’t a fancy 5 star hotel either — in case that sort of thing is important to you), and I personally think that it is a nice option for those who might be interested.

In any case, I’m not a travel agent, but if you want some information feel free to contact me through my website’s contact form and I will keep you in the loop with whatever I find out regarding training options in Xi’an.

Next practice … Wednesday morning!

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